Fireproof wall



W. GERAERDTS.

FIREPROOF WALL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 18. 1921.

Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

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FIREPROOF WALL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT, I8. I92].

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a l 'nllf n "1 avwewcoz ZMZZWW/ WILLIAM. GERAERDTS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIREPROOF WALL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 29, 1922,

Substitute for abandoned application Serial No. 221,596, filed March 11, 1918. This application filed October 18, 1921.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM GERAERDTS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fireproof lValls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fireproof walls such as are usually employed in interior structures, as partitions and shafts, and particularly to that class of interior walls which are built up of large and thin blocks of fire-proof material, such as plaster board, concrete and similar material, secured together and strengthened by metallic reinforcement. I

An object of my invention is to provide a structure'which will be simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assembio, and which will be strong and durable and capable of thorough inspection after erection. Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description.

I shall now describe the embodiments of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point out my invention in claims.

Figure 1' is a perspective view of a dumb waiter shaft embodying one form of my invention and shown in process of erection;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken through a joint between the courses of blocks, showing one corner of the structure in plan on an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is an elevation of a fire-proof partition wall embodying another form of my invention, and shown in course of construction.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view indicated at 4, 4 of Figure 3 andshowing the horizontal spacing plate with one of its vertical reinforcing wedges removed.

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevation of the spacing plate with both reinforcing wedges removed.

In the shaft structure shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the component building blocks are all of the same size and are laid bonded in courses, each course being composed of one block on each face of the shaft.

The blocks 1 are provided with longitudinal grooves 2 on their upper and under Serial No. 508,458.

edges, and with end grooves l, as is usual, andthe mortar in the joints fills up these grooves and forms mortar dowels which assist in looking the abutting blocks together.

As vertical reinforcing members I employ clamping members which are preferably flat, tapering clamping plates or wedges 5 of suitable material such as sheet metal, disposed fiat against the faces of the blocks and bridging the joints between the courses of the blocks, with their narrow ends downward, two clamping plates 5 being disposed interio'rly and two exteriorly of each joint, and the clamping plates being disposed near the ends of the blocks, as shown.

To hold these clamping plates in place horizontal reinforcing anchor pieces or angle plates 6 are laid fiatin the joints so as to conform to the corners. These anchor plates Gare laid in the mortar and provided on both sides with. slots which grip the clamping plates 5' and anchor them in place. Thuseach leg of the anchor plate engages and holds clamping plates 5 on both faces of the wall, and each anchor plate supports four clamping plates. Because of the tapering shape ofthe clamping plates 5, they are easily inserted in their respective anchoring slots, and the parts are so designed that the clamping. plates will enter these slots until they extend equally above and below the, respectivev joints. The anchor plates are laid and the clamping plates are inserted as the work progresses, and it will be noted that the clamping plates and anchor plates remain visible as long as the mason work is not covered with plaster, wherefore the mason work can be thoroughly inspected until the work is finallycovered by the finishing plasterers. The width of the anchor plates exceeds the thickness of the blocks by a margin equal to the desirable thickness of the rough plaster coat or scratch coat to be put on the surface of the blocks, sothat the plates act as acon'venient gauge for this plastering operation, the scratch coat being put on flush with the edges of these plates so that the plates will show for inspection before the finishing plaster coat is applied. The rou'gh'plaster coat maybe omitted from the faces of the clamping plates 5 so they may also be visible for in spection.

In order that the anchor plates may be better secured in the mortar of the joints in which the plates are imbedded, the plates are perforated so that the mortar can extend through the perforations, and, in its hard ened state, serve to securely hold the plates against lateral shitting. As shown. each plate has three perforations,a small circular opening 8 at the corner, and a perforation or cut-out 9 in each leg. In practice to tacili'tate manufacture and economize in material, a clamping plate 5 is cut out from each leg of the anchor plate, thereby providing the tapering elongated perforations 9, and other clamping plates are cut out from the stock between the two legs of the anchor plate. Thus each anchor plate and its four clamping plates may he formed from a single square piece of sheet stock with very little waste.

It will be manifest that the clamping plates give a. broad and ettective bearing surface. and because o1 their thinness may be readily covered with. plaster; and it is ap parent that the reinforcements may be economically manufactured and easily assembled, and render the structure firm and rigid, and capable of thorough inspection.

In the construction of Figures 3, 4, and 5, the plaster blocks 10 are laid in horizontal courses to form a partition wall, with the vertical joints between the blocks offset in successive courses so as to break joints, in the familiar manner, and the metal reinforcing devices are located in the horizontal joints and between the vertical joints int-he upper and lower courses. The anchor plates or horizontal spacing plates 11 are formed of strap iron with transverse channels 12 near their ends, and with dove-tail or undercut slots 13 on either edge in the middle of the plate. The channels 12 serve to space the partition blocks 10 vertically to provide ample room for the mortar between the hori- Zontal courses, and the slots 13 receive and rigidly hold the vertical reinforcing wedges or clamping members 14 which have beveled vertical edges longitudinallytapered for iacility of insertion. The scratch coat may be applied flush with the outer surface of the anchor plates and clamping wedges. I

By the metal reinforcing means of this invention. partition walls may be securely set up without mortar or plaster so that all the metal reinforcements may be fully inspected almost at a glance and with utmost certainty and convenience even before the mortar is inserted into the space between the blocks or boards. Although the invention is applicable both to thick blocks and thin plaster boards, its advantages are most conspicuous in its adaptation to very thin plasto boards which may be united by the reinforcing means, to form a partition equal in strength to a much thicker partition made in the usual way. Thus is effected not only a saving of material, but also a saving of space occupied by the partition wall, and the simplicity of the construction also accomplishes a saving of labor, so that the cost of partitioning by this invention is considerably less than by the usual method. After the partition wall is built up with the metal reinforcements, the mortar may be applied first on one side and then on the other, to fill the openings between the boards and cover their surfaces to any desired thickness so that each board will in fact be enveloped in mortar while the mortar surfaces on opposite sides will be well bonded by the mortar layers between the boards. The partition thus formed is in effect a continuous wall made up of the'mortar with the plaster boards and their reinforcements enveloped in it, and the wall thus formed is not liable to the cracking at the joints which so commonly occurs in the usual plaster board partitions.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown in the drawings and above particularly described, within the principle of the invention, and the scope of the following claims. 1. A device for joining partition blocks and like structural members, consisting in an anchor member adapted to be inserted between such structural members and to pro ject beyond the surfaces thereof and havingraised portions to space the structural members apart and having openings in its parts which project beyond the surfaces of the structural me i hers, and clamping members adapted to be held in said openings and to bear against the surfaces of the adjacent structural members. i

'2. A device for joining partition blocks and like structural members, comprising an anchor member adapted to be inserted between the edges of said structural members to space them apart and to project beyond the opposite t'aces of the members and provided with openings adjacent its opposite edges, and flat clamping members adapted to be held in said openings flush with the edges of the anchor member and spanning the joints of the structural members, whereby each anchor member and its clamping members engage the opposite faces of adjacent structural members.

In testimony whereof, I have allixed my signature to this specification.

WILLIAM GERAERDTS. 

